1928 Belgium–Netherlands women's athletics competition

The 1928 Belgium–Netherlands women's athletics competition was an international women's athletics competition on 3 June 1928 at the Sports Parc of Royal Uccle Sport in Brussels, Belgium.

While being held in Belgium, the competition was organized by the Royal Dutch Athletics Federation. The competition was the first international competition for Dutch women. It was organized to gain international experience in preparation for the 1928 Summer Olympics.

The competition was won by the Netherlands with 50 points versus Belgium with 40 points. In general, the competition for the Netherlands was seen as a success, although there were also some setbacks. According to the Dutch media, the Belgians performed less well than expected with only setting one Belgian record by discus thrower Jenny Toitgans.

During the competition Lien Gisolf set a new record in the high jump. With a jump over 1.582 metres she beated the old record of Green of 1.55 metres. Besides of that Ter Horst set a new Dutch national record in the 100 metres; Michael’s set a new Dutch record in the discus throw and Jenny Toitgans set a new Belgian record in the discus throw.

Background and preparations
For the first time, women's athletic events would be held at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. As the Dutch women's didn't have international experience the Royal Dutch Athletics Federation organized two international competition. This competition against Belgium and a competition against West-Germany to gain the Dutch women international experience. Some athletes were trained ahead of the competition by B. Verwaal. Belgian women already had some international experience, as they competed in an international competition organized by the Brussels Femina Club in Brussels at the Josephat Parc against France and Great Britain in 1927.

The competition took place at the Sport Parc of Royal Uccle Sport. The field was described as not very good, being small with a hard and uneven ground.

In the morning of 3 June, the Dutch national team traveled by train to Brussels together with Dutch officials and some supporters. From there, the team travelled by car to the Sport Parc of Royal Uccle Sports. Duting the competition the Dutch team wore orange shorts and a white shirt with the Dutch lion.

Competition format
The competition consisted of 5 events: 100 metres, 800 metres, 4x 100 metres relay, high jump and discus throw. The overall classification is a nation's classification. In the four individual events three athletes of each nation participated. The winner of the event received for the nation 6 points, the number 2 received 5 points, number 3 received 4 points etc. The nation winning the relay event wins 4 points and the other nation received 2 points. For the overall classication all points from each country are added together.

Entrants
Twelve Dutch athlethes and eleven Belgian athletes were selected by the Royal Dutch Athletics Federation and Royal Belgian Athletics League and announced ahead of the competition.

+NetherlandsNameClubEvent Lies AengenendtHygiea, The Hague100 m4x 100 metres relayRie BriejerBrünhilde, Leiden4x 100 metres relayYvonne BuismaAalsmeerHigh jumpBets DekensEclecta, GroningenHigh jumpDiscus throwMien Duchateaute Werve, The Hague800 mLien GisolfHygiea, The HagueHigh jumpNettie GroossHygiea, The Hague100 m4x 100 metres relayBets ter HorstAV Twenthe100 m4x 100 metres relayJo MallonQuick, Gouda800 mLena Michaëliste Werve, The HagueDiscus throwNici MürHygiea, The HagueDiscus throwAgaath van NoortBrünhilde, Leiden800 m
The Dutch Annie de Jong-Zondervan was reserve for the 4x 100 metres relay event but didn't compete.

+BelgiumNameClubEvent Rosa van CrombruggeOlympic F.C. de St. Gilles4x 100 metres relayIda DegrandeF.C. Brugeois800 mAntoinette GallemaersAtalante, Brussels100 m4x 100 metres relayPaulina Heussen800 mRose MayerOlympic F.C. de St. Gilles100 m4x 100 metres relayHigh jumpJosé PaquesAtalante, BrusselsDiscus throwLucie Petit100 m4x 100 metres relayDiscus throwLouise StevensBrussels Femina ClubHigh jumpJenny Toitgans Brussels Femina ClubDiscus throwSidonie VerschuerenGhent Femina ClubHigh jumpBetsy Winandy800 m

The competition had Dutch and Belgian jury members including D. J. de Vries, J. M. Hardeman and W. Boer.

Competition

800 metres
The competition started with the 800 metres event. The Belgian Ina Degrande won the race, 10 metres ahead of the Dutch Jo Mallon. Mallon's performance was praised by the Dutch press. Agaath van Noort did not performed as expected, as she because she was not fit. Out of competition, the Dutch woman Jeanne van Kesteren who lived in Belgium finished second in a time of 2 minues and 46.3 seconds. Van Kesteren was invited for the international competition later the year in Germany and became a reserve athlete for the Netherlands at the 1928 Summer Olympics. The Netherlands won the 800 metres with 13 points, with Belgium scoring 8 points.

+800 m resultsPlace Athlete TimePoints  1  2:146 2  +10 m.5 3   4 4  3 5  2 6  1

+Points (800 m)NationPoints    13  8

100 metres
The second event was the 100 metres. There were two times a false starts and the starting pistol faltered a few times. Bets ter Horst won the event in a new Dutch national record with a time of 13 seconds. The other two Dutch women finished second and third place. The Dutch former record holder Nettie Grooss finished in third place as she had a bad start, due to the false starts and faltering starter pistol.

+100 m resultsPlace Athlete TimePoints 1  13 sec. NR  6 2  +1 m.  5 3   4 4   3 5   2 6   1

+Points (100 m)NationPoints    6  15

High jump
The high jump was won by Lien Gisolf in new world. With a jump over 1.582 metres she beated the old record of Green of 1.55 metres.
+High jump resultsPlace Athlete HeightPoints 1  1.582 WR  6 2  1.45  5 3  1.40  4 4  1.375  3 5  1.375  2 6  1.35  1

+Points (high jump)NationPoints    8  13

Discus throw
The duscus throw event was won by the Belgian Jenny Toitgans in a new Belgian record of 30.18 metres. The Dutch women Lena Michaëlis also set a new national record with 26.83 metres. The former official Dutch record was of Martha Kolthoff with 23.84 metres with unrecognized throws of Nici Mür (24.11 metres) and L. Dekens (26.73 metres).

+Discus throw resultsPlace Athlete DistancePoints 1  30.18 NR  6 2  26.83 NR  5 3  26.70  4 4    3 5  23.68  2 6  23.48  1

+Points (discus throw)NationPoints    11  10

4x 100 metres relay
After the Dutch women finished first, second and third in the 100 metres event, the 4x 100 metres relay was according to the Dutch media "obviously" won by the Dutch team. The Dutch team set a time of 55 seconds, finishing 10 metres ahead of the Belgian team.

+4x 100 metres relayPlace Team TimePoints 1 Bets ter HorstLies AengenendtRie BriejerNettie Grooss 55 sec.  4 2 Rosa van CrombruggeRose MayerLucie PetitAntoinette Gallemaers + 10 m.  2

Overall classification

RankAthletePoints100m800mHJDTRel 1 50 15 8  13  10  4 1 40 6  13  8  11  2

References

Category:1928 in women's athletics
Category:Sport in the Netherlands
Category:Sport in Belgium
Category:1928 in Europe
Category:1920s in Belgium
Category:Brussels